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"Get a life" is an originally American
American English

PhonologyIn many ways, compared to English language in England, North American English is conservative in its phonology. Some distinctive accents can be found on the East Coast of the United States , partly because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of English English at a time when those varieties we...
 idiom
Idiom

An idiom is a phrase whose meaning cannot be determined by the literal definition of the phrase itself, but refers instead to a figurative language meaning that is known only through common use....
 and catch phrase
Catch phrase

A catch phrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such memetic phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth....
 usually intended as a taunt
Taunt

A taunt is a battle cry, a method in hand-to-hand combat, sarcastic remark, or insult intended to make the other feel miserable and powerless, or else angered into reacting quickly without thinking....
, to indicate that the person being so addressed is devoting an inordinate amount of time to trivial or hopeless matters. The phrase has also appeared as a generally more emphatic variant of the taunt "get a job" and implies the addressee needs to go out and make their way in the world, without being supported by outside sources such as parent
Parent

A parent is a mother or father; one who sexual reproduction or gives birth to and/or nurtures and raises an offspring. The different roles of parents vary throughout the tree of life, and are especially complex in human culture....
s or benefactor
Benefactor

A benefactor is a person who gives some form of help to benefit a person, group or organization often gifting a monetary contribution in the form of an endowment to help a cause....
s.






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"Get a life" is an originally American
American English

PhonologyIn many ways, compared to English language in England, North American English is conservative in its phonology. Some distinctive accents can be found on the East Coast of the United States , partly because these areas were in contact with England, and imitated prestigious varieties of English English at a time when those varieties we...
 idiom
Idiom

An idiom is a phrase whose meaning cannot be determined by the literal definition of the phrase itself, but refers instead to a figurative language meaning that is known only through common use....
 and catch phrase
Catch phrase

A catch phrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such memetic phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth....
 usually intended as a taunt
Taunt

A taunt is a battle cry, a method in hand-to-hand combat, sarcastic remark, or insult intended to make the other feel miserable and powerless, or else angered into reacting quickly without thinking....
, to indicate that the person being so addressed is devoting an inordinate amount of time to trivial or hopeless matters. The phrase has also appeared as a generally more emphatic variant of the taunt "get a job" and implies the addressee needs to go out and make their way in the world, without being supported by outside sources such as parent
Parent

A parent is a mother or father; one who sexual reproduction or gives birth to and/or nurtures and raises an offspring. The different roles of parents vary throughout the tree of life, and are especially complex in human culture....
s or benefactor
Benefactor

A benefactor is a person who gives some form of help to benefit a person, group or organization often gifting a monetary contribution in the form of an endowment to help a cause....
s. It may also be directed at someone who is perceived as boring or single-minded; suggesting they acquire some other, more practical interests or hobbies
Hobby

A hobby is a leisure recreational pursuit....
 and get dates
Courtship

Courtship is the traditional dating period before engagement and marriage. During a courtship, a couple dates to get to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement....
, find a job
Employment

Employment is a contract between two party , one being the #Employer and the other being the #Employee. An employee may be defined as: "A person in the Service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral contract or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and Management the employee i...
, or move to their own house
House

A house generally refers to a or building that is a dwelling or place for habitation by humans. The term includes many kinds of dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to high-rise apartment buildings....
.

It was also applied to so-called workaholic
Workaholic

A workaholic, colloquially, is a person who is Addiction to work .The phrase does not always imply that the person actually enjoys their work, but rather simply feels compelled to do it....
s and others who are perceived as dedicated to their work (out of "labor of love" as opposed to money or loyalty to the company) but not taking the time to relax or enjoy life.

Sometimes the phrase is used against people who are viewed as officious or intermeddling in someone else's affairs. It is another way of saying "Get your own life", or "Stay out of my business."

Documented early usage

  • 1983: The first Oxford English Dictionary
    Oxford English Dictionary

    The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Two fully-bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989; as of December 2008 the dictionary's current editors have completed a quarter of the third edition....
     citation is from a January 1983 Washington Post article: "Gross me out, I mean, Valley Girl
    Valley girl

    Valley Girl is a term referred to affluent upper-middle class girls living in the bedroom community neighborhoods of San Fernando Valley.A Valley Girl can be described as materialistic, self-conscious, dodgy, self-centered, hedonistic, physical attractiveness and sometimes sexually Promiscuity....
    s was, like, ohmigod, it was last year, fer sure! I mean, get a life! Say what?    ".
  • 1986: Appears in Baby Anger page 48 as "Get a life, people of New Jersey!
  • 1986: The term was used by William Shatner
    William Shatner

    William Alan Shatner is a Canadian double Emmy-, Golden Globe- and Saturn Award-winning actor and novelist. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T....
     in his appearance in a December, 1986 episode of Saturday Night Live
    Saturday Night Live

    Saturday Night Live is a weekly late-night 90-minute American sketch comedy/variety show filmed in New York City. It made its debut on October 11, 1975....
    , in which he tells a group of trekkie
    Trekkie

    Trekkie is a term used to describe a fan of all or part of the Star Trek fictional universe....
    s to "get a life."


See also

  • Popular culture
    Popular culture

    Popular culture is the totality of Distinction memes, ideas, Perspective s and Attitude s that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture....